Astro Signs Agreement with NDS

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Measat Broadcast Network Systems, owner and operator of Malaysian pay-TV service Astro and NDS Group plc have signed contracts for the licensing and deployment of the VideoGuard® conditional access system (VideoGuard CAS) for its Direct-to-Home Pay-TV services. The company plans to progressively migrate its satellite Pay-TV services to the VideoGuard CAS. This follows Astro’s deployment since 1999 of the Mediahighway® middleware (owned by NDS) as its operating system for its set top boxes. The utilization of VideoGuard CAS will provide Astro with a single and consolidated CAS/middleware provider resulting in enhanced ability to leverage functionality between the two technologies, cost efficiencies and speed to market.

About Astro
Astro is Malaysia’s leading multimedia broadcaster and producer of Malay, Chinese, Indian and English language programming content. It owns and operates the only direct-to-home satellite TV service with access to some 10 million viewers in over 2 million homes, representing 38% of TV homes in Malaysia, making it the one of the largest multi-channel TV businesses in Asia. It currently offers over 100 TV channels, including 25 Astro-branded channels of original and aggregated content of various genres in multiple languages. The service also provides a range of interactive TV content and services.

Astro is the trademark of Measat Broadcast Network Systems, a subsidiary of ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS plc. The Group operates out of the All Asia Broadcast Centre, a fully-integrated digital broadcast and production complex in Kuala Lumpur.

For more information, please visit www.astro.com.my.

About NDS
NDS Group plc (NASDAQ: NNDS), a majority owned subsidiary of News Corporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology and services to digital pay-television platform operators and content providers.

See www.nds.com for more information about NDS.

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This document may contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management’s views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance as of the time the statements are made. Actual results may differ materially from these expectations due to changes in global economic, business, competitive market, regulatory and other factors. More detailed information about these and other factors that could affect future results is contained in our filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Any “forward-looking statements” included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and we do not have any obligation, nor do we undertake, to publicly update any “forward-looking statements” to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law.

For further information:
Astro
David Yap
T: +603 9543 6688
Director, Corporate Communications & Community Affairs david_yap@astro.com.my


Breakaway Communications for NDS
Kelly Fitzgerald
T: +1 212 616 6006
Managing Partner
kfitz@breakawaycom.com

Contact Information

Cynthia Ritchie

Director, Corporate Communications

NDS

Contact via E-mail